650 California Street Acquired by Columbia Property Trust in $300 Million Deal

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

650 California Street was recently acquired by Columbia Property Trust Inc. in a deal completed with owners Tishman Speyer and Prudential Real Estate Investors. The buyer paid a fee of $309 million for the iconic Class A office tower located in San Francisco’s coveted Financial District.

In order to complete the deal, the buyer, Columbia Property Trust, took out a $130 million loan bearing interest at 3.6 percent and maturing July 2019. The cash component of the transaction, totaling $179 million, was handled through borrowings under the company’s unsecured credit facility and cash on hand.

The 33-story office asset at 650 California Street offers a total of 478,392 square feet of space. Located in the city’s Financial District, the building was 88 percent under contract at the time of the sale. The asset is reportedly expected to have an operating income of around $11 million during the first year. The property is LEED Gold-certified by the US Green Building Council. During the past two years, the former owner rolled out a $14.2 million renovation process at 650 California. The process included adding an onsite parking garage and an extensive lobby renovation to round out the building’s amenity package including the fitness center, bicycle parking, and a conference facility.

The owner’s Western Region team will henceforth handle asset management duties as well as leasing at the property. In order to accommodate the portfolio expansion, Columbia Property Trust recently added Michael Schmidt to its local team with an experienced professional in asset management in major West Coast markets. Schmidt will handle the company’s West Coast assets, including this latest acquisition.

 Image courtesy of tishmanspeyer.com